CHARLOTTE — A father of five died after suffering several gunshot wounds on Freedom Drive. But the victim’s mother said she does not want him to be remembered by these final moments.
Des’mon Thompson was shot inside the To-Go Food Mart on Freedom Drive in West Charlotte on Feb. 8. Police reports say Thompson was pepper sprayed by Gregory Dowanna and he pulled out a gun and ran down the aisle in response. Dowanna then opened fire with a gun in each hand, as seen in the convenience store surveillance footage.
Thompson’s mother, Latonya Richardson, told Channel 9′s Erika Jackson that a nurse called her to break the news.
“She says, Desmond passed away while we were working on him, but unfortunately, the blood had stopped pumping to his heart,” Richardson said.
The woman who drove Thompson to the hospital that he and Dowanna got into an argument back in January. But Richardson said that wasn’t the case.
“He did not know that young man,” she said. “Desmond was a very private person when it came to his friends and his family and we all knew each other.”
Richardson said she wants Thompson’s legacy to live on through his music and his kindness, not his final moments at that gas station.
“He was just beautiful,” Richardson said. “Desmond’s spirit was bigger than life.”
Crime scene investigators said they took two handguns, a rifle, and ammo from Dowanna’s vehicle. He is being held in the Mecklenburg County jail without bond.
WATCH: Video shows chaotic shootout in Charlotte gas station
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